The Japan Aerospace eXploration Agency(独立行政法人宇宙航空研究開発機構,Dokuritsu-gyōsei-hōjin Uchū Kōkū Kenkyū Kaihatsu Kikō?, literally "Independent Administrative Institution on Aerospace Research and Development "), or JAXA, is Japan's national aero-space agency. Through the merger of three previously independent organizations, JAXA was formed on 1 October 2003. JAXA is responsible for research, technology development and the launch of satellites into orbit, and is involved in many more advanced missions, such as asteroid exploration and possible manned exploration of the Moon.[2] Its motto is One JAXA[3] and its corporate slogan is Explore to Realize (formerly Reaching for the skies, exploring space).[4]

In 2012 new legislation extended JAXA's remit from peaceful purposes only to include some military space development, such as missile early warning systems. Political control of JAXA passed from MEXT to the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office through a new Space Strategy Office.[7]

Tsukuba Space Center (TKSC) in Tsukuba. This is the center of Japan's space network. It is involved in research and development of satellites and rockets, and tracking and controlling of satellites. It develops experimental equipment for the Japanese Experiment Module ("Kibo"). Training of astronauts also takes place here. For International Space Station operations, the Japanese Flight Control Team is located at the Space Station Integration & Promotion Center (SSIPC) in Tsukuba. SSIPC communicates regularly with ISS crewmembers via S-band audio.[8]

Prior to the establishment of JAXA, ISAS had been most successful in its space program in the field of X-ray astronomy during the 1980s and 1990s. Another successful area for Japan has been Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) with the HALCA mission. Additional success was achieved with solar observation and research of the magnetosphere, among other areas.

NASDA was mostly active in the field of communication satellite technology. However, since the satellite market of Japan is completely open, the first time a Japanese company won a contract for a civilian communication satellite was in 2005. Another prime focus of the NASDA body is Earth climate observation.

Japan launched its first satellite, Ōsumi, in 1970, using ISAS' L-4S rocket. Prior to the merger, ISAS used small solid-fueled launch vehicles, while NASDA developed larger liquid-fueled launchers. In the beginning, NASDA used licensed American models. The first model of liquid-fuelled launch vehicle indigenously developed in Japan was the H-II, introduced in 1994. However, at the end of the 1990s, with two H-II launch failures, Japanese rocket technology began to face criticism.

Japan's first space mission under JAXA, an H-IIA rocket launch on 29 November 2003, ended in failure due to stress problems. After a 15 month hiatus, JAXA performed a successful launch of an H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima Space Center, placing a satellite into orbit on 26 February 2005.

Japan's first missions beyond Earth orbit were the 1985 Halley's comet observation satellites Suisei and Sakigake. To prepare for future missions, ISAS tested Earth swing by orbits with the Hiten mission in 1990. The first Japanese interplanetary mission was the Mars Orbiter Nozomi (Planet-B), which was launched in 1998. It reached its target in 2003, but orbit injection had to be given up. Currently interplanetary missions remain at the ISAS group under the JAXA umbrella. However for FY 2008 JAXA is planning to set up an independent working group within the organization. New head for this group will be Hayabusa project manager Kawaguchi.[10]

On 9 May 2003, Hayabusa (meaning, Peregrine falcon), was launched from an M-V rocket. The goal of the mission was to collect samples from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa. The craft rendezvoused with the asteroid in September 2005. It was confirmed that the spacecraft successfully landed on the asteroid in November 2005, after some initial confusion regarding the incoming data. Hayabusa returned to Earth with samples from the asteroid on 13 June 2010.

On 9 August 2004, ISAS successfully deployed two prototype solar sails from a sounding rocket. A clover type sail was deployed at 122 km altitude and a fan type sail was deployed at 169 km altitude. Both sails used 7.5 micrometer thick film.

ISAS tested a solar sail again as a sub payload to the Astro-F (Akari) mission on 22 February 2006. However the solar sail did not deploy fully. ISAS tested a solar sail again as a sub payload of the Solar-B launch at 23 September 2006, but contact with the probe was lost. The IKAROS solar sail was launched on 21 May 2010. The solar sail deployed successfully. The goal is to have a solar sail mission to Jupiter after 2010.

After Hiten in 1990, ISAS planned a lunar exploration mission LUNAR-A but after delays due to technical problems, the project was terminated in January 2007. The seismometer penetrator design for Lunar-A may be reused in future mission.

On 14 September 2007, JAXA succeeded in launching lunar orbit explorer Kaguya, also known as SELENE (costing 55 billion yen including launch vehicle), the largest such mission since the Apollo program, on an H-2A rocket. Its mission is to gather data on the moon's origin and evolution. It entered into a lunar orbit on 4 October 2007.[11][12] After 1 year and 8 months it impacted the lunar surface on 10 June 2009 at 18:25 UTC.

The first Japanese astronomy mission was x-ray satellite Hakucho (Corsa-B), which was launched in 1979. Later ISAS moved into solar observation, radio astronomy through Space VLBI and infrared astronomy. Active Mission: Suzaku, Akari, Hinode Under Development: ASTRO-G, ASTRO-H

Japan's first infrared astronomy mission was the 15 cm IRTS telescope which was part of the SFU multipurpose satellite in 1995. IRTS scanned during its one month lifetime around 7% of the sky before SFU got brought back to Earth by the Space Shuttle. During the 1990s JAXA also gave ground support for the ESAInfrared Space Observatory (ISO) infrared mission.

The next step for JAXA was the AKARI spacecraft, with the pre-launch designation ASTRO-F. This satellite was launched on 21 February 2006. Its mission is infrared astronomy with a 68 cm telescope. This is the first all sky survey since the first infrared mission IRAS in 1983. (A 3.6 kg nanosatellite named CUTE-1.7 was also released from the same launch vehicle.)[13]

JAXA is also doing further R&D for increasing the performance of its mechanical coolers for its future infrared mission SPICA. This would enable a warm launch without liquid helium. SPICA has the same size as the ESA Herschel Space Observatory mission, but is planned with a temperature of just 4.5 K to be much colder. The launch is planned for the year 2015, however the mission is not yet fully funded. Also ESA and NASA might contribute an instrument each.[14]

Starting from 1979 with Hakucho (CORSA-B), Japan achieved for nearly 20 years continuous observation with its Hinotori, Tenma, Ginga and Asca (ASTRO-A to D) x-ray observation satellites. However in the year 2000 the launch of Japan's fifth x-ray observation satellite ASTRO-E failed (as it failed at launch it never received a proper name).

Then on 10 July 2005, JAXA was finally able to launch a new X-ray astronomy mission named Suzaku (ASTRO-E II). This launch was important for JAXA, because in the five years since the launch failure of the original ASTRO-E satellite, Japan was without an x-ray telescope. Three instruments were included in this satellite: an X-ray spectrometer (XRS), an X-ray imaging spectrometer (XIS), and a hard X-ray detector (HXD). However, the XRS was rendered inoperable due to a malfunction which caused the satellite to lose its supply of liquid helium.

The next planned x-ray mission is the Monitor of All-sky X-ray Image (MAXI). It will continuously monitors astronomical X-ray objects over a broad energy band (0.5 to 30 keV). MAXI will be installed on the Japanese external module of the ISS.[15] After this mission JAXA plans to launch ASTRO-H, also known under the name NeXT, in the summer of 2013.

Japan's solar astronomy started in the early 80s with the launch of the Hinotori (ASTRO-A) x-ray mission. The Hinode (SOLAR-B) spacecraft, the follow-on to the Japan/US/UK Yohkoh (SOLAR-A) spacecraft, was launched on 23 September 2006.[16][17] A SOLAR-C can be expected sometime after 2010. However no details are worked out yet other than it will not be launched with the former ISASs Mu rockets. Instead H-2A from Tanegashima could launch it. As H-2A is more powerful SOLAR-C could either be heavier or be stationed at L1 (Lagrange point 1).

In 1998 Japan launched the HALCA (Muses-B) Mission, the world first spacecraft dedicated to create SPACE VLBI observations of Pulsars among others. To do so, ISAS set up a ground network around the world through international cooperation. The observation part of the mission lasted until 2003 and the satellite was retired at the end of 2005. In FY 2006 Japan funded the ASTRO-G as the succeeding mission. Launch is planned for FY 2012.

One of the primary duties of the former NASDA body was the testing of new space technologies, mostly in the field of communication. The first test satellite was ETS-I,launched in 1975. However during the 1990s NASDA was hit by bad luck with the problems surrounding the ETS-VI and COMETS missions.

Testing of communication technologies remains as one of the Jaxas key duties in cooperation with NICT. Active Mission:ETS-VIII, WINDS, Index Under Development: QZSS-1 Retired:OICETS

To upgrade Japan's communication technology the Japanese state launched the i-Space initiative with the ETS-VIII and WINDS missions.[18]

ETS-VIII was launched on 18 December 2006. The purpose of ETS-VIII is to test communication equipment with two very large antennas and an atomic clock test. On 26 December both antennas were successfully deployed. This didn't come unexpected, since JAXA tested the deployment mechanism before with the LDREX-2 Mission, which was launched on 14 October with the European Ariane 5. The test was successful. The mission of WINDS is to create the worlds fastest satellite internet connection. WINDS was launched in February 2008.

On 24 August 2005, JAXA launched the experimental satellites OICETS and INDEX with the Dnepr rocket. OICETS mission is to test optical links with the European Space Agency (ESA) satellite ARTEMIS, which is around 40,000 km away from OICETS. The experiment was successful on 9 December, when the link could be established. In March 2006 Jaxa could establish with OICETS the worldwide first optical links between a LEO satellite and a ground station first in Japan and in June 2006 with a mobile station in Germany.

INDEX is a small 70 kg satellite for testing various equipment and for a small aurora observation mission. The satellite is currently in the extended mission phase.

Japan's first Earth observation satellites were MOS-1a and MOS-1b launched in 1987 and 1990. During the 1990s and the new millennium this programme came under heavy fire, because both Adeos (Midori) and Adeos 2 (Midori 2) satellites failed after just 10 months in orbit.

In January 2006, JAXA successfully launched the Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS/Daichi). Communication between ALOS and the ground station in Japan will be done through the Kodama Data Relay Satellite, which was launched during 2002. This project is under intense pressure due to the shorter than expected lifetime of the ADEOS II (Midori) Earth Observation Mission. For the following on mission JAXA plans to split the mission into a radar satellite and an optical satellite. ALOS 2 SAR is currently planned for the winter of FY 2012.

Since Japan is an island nation and gets struck by typhoons every year, research about the dynamics of the atmosphere is a very important issue. For this reason Japan launched in 1997 the TRMM mission in cooperation with NASA, to observe the tropical rainfall seasons. JAXA and NASA are planning a successor to the TRMM mission. However because of NASA budget problems the launch date of the GPM project got pushed back to the year 2013. For further research NASDA although launched the ADEOS and ADEOS II missions in 1996 and 2003. However due to various reasons both satellites had a much shorter than expected life term.

At the end of the 2008 fiscal year, JAXA launched the satellite GOSAT (Greenhouse Gas Observing SATellite) to help scientists determine and monitor the density distribution of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The satellite is being jointly developed by JAXA and Japan's Ministry of the Environment. JAXA is building the satellite while the Ministry is in charge of the data that will be collected. Since the number of ground-based carbon dioxide observatories cannot monitor enough of the world's atmosphere and are distributed unevenly throughout the globe, the GOSAT may be able to gather more accurate data and fill in the gaps on the globe where there are no observatories on the ground. Sensors for methane and other greenhouse gasses are also being considered for the satellite, although the plans are not yet finalized. The satellite weighs approximately 1650 kg and is expected to have a life span of 5 years.

Next funded earth observation mission after GOSAT is the GCOM earth observation programme as a successor to ADEOS II (Midori) and the Aqua mission. To reduce the risk and for a longer observation time the mission will be split into smaller satellites. Altogether GCOM will be a series of six satellites. First launch, GCOM-W is scheduled for February 2012 with the H-IIA. Second launch GCOM-C is currently planned for February 2014.

For weather observation Japan launched on February 2005 the Multi-Functional Transport Satellite 1R (MTSAT-1R). The success of this launch was critical for Japan, since the original MTSAT-1 couldn't be put into orbit because of a launch failure with the H-2 rocket in 1999. Since then Japan relied for weather forecasting on an old satellite which was already beyond its useful life term and on American systems.

On 18 February 2006, JAXA, as head of the H-IIA at this time, successfully launched the MTSAT-2 aboard a H-2A rocket. MTSAT-2 is the backup to the MTSAT-1R. The MTSAT-2 uses the DS-2000 satellite bus developed by Mitsubishi Electric.[19] The DS-2000 is also used for the DRTS Kodama, ETS-VIII and the Superbird 7 communication satellite, making it the first commercial success for Japan.

As a secondary mission both the MTSAT-1R and MTSAT-2 help to direct air traffic.

This section is outdated. Please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(November 2010)

On 23 February 2008 JAXA launched the Wideband InterNetworking engineering test and Demonstration Satellite (WINDS), also called "KIZUNA." WINDS will facilitate experiments with faster internet connections. The launch, using H-IIA launch vehicle 14, took place from the Tanegashima Space Center.[20]

Another project is the Global Precipitation Measurement/Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar (GPM/DPR) which is a joint development with NASA. This mission is the successor to the highly successful TRMM mission. JAXA will develop the radar and provide the launch vehicle. Other countries/agencies like China, India, ESA etc. will provide the subsatellites. The aim of this mission is to measure global rainfall. However because of NASA budget limitations this project was pushed back to 2010.

In the year 2009 JAXA plans to launch the first satellite of the Quasi Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), a subsystem of the global positioning system (GPS). Two others are expected to follow later. If successful, one satellite will be in a zenith position over Japan full-time. The QZSS mission is the last scheduled major independent mission for JAXA, as no major civilian projects were funded after that for now. The only exception is the IGS programme which will be continued beyond 2008. However it seems Japan is pressing forward now with the GCOM earth observation satellites as successors to the ADEOS missions. First launch is planned for 2010. In 2009 Japan also plans to launch a new version of the IGS with an improved resolution of 60 cm.

First launch of the H-IIB and the HTV is 1 September 2009. After the first flight one HTV launch is planned during each FY until 2015. (If not mentioned otherwise launch vehicle for the following missions is the H-IIA.)

Planning interplanetary research missions can take up to seven years, such as the ASTRO-E. Due to the lag time between these interplanetary events and mission planning time, opportunities to gain new knowledge about the cosmos might be lost. To prevent this, JAXA plans on using smaller, faster missions from 2010 onwards. JAXA is developing a new solid-fueled rocket, the Epsilon, to replace the retired M-V.

IKAROS (Interplanetary Kite-craft Accelerated by Radiation Of the Sun), a small size powered-solar sail experimental spacecraft. Future mission will use solar sail for Jupiter and Trojan asteroids exploration.

The first Japanese citizen to fly in space was Toyohiro Akiyama, a journalist sponsored by TBS, who flew on the SovietSoyuz TM-11 in December 1990. He spent more than seven days in space on the Mir space station, in what the Soviets called their first commercial spaceflight which allowed them to earn $14 million.

Japan participates in US and international manned space programs including flights of Japanese astronauts on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the ISS. One Space Shuttle mission (STS-47) in September 1992 was partially funded by Japan. This flight included JAXA's first astronaut in space, Mamoru Mohri, as the Payload Specialist for the Spacelab-J, one of the European built Spacelab modules. This mission was also designated Japan.

A view of the completed Kibo module.

Three other NASA Space Shuttle missions (STS-123, STS-124, STS-127) in 2008–2009 delivered parts of the Japanese built spacelab-module Kibo to ISS.

Japanese plans for a manned lunar landing were in development but were shelved in early 2010 due to budget constraints.[23]

In June 2014 Japan's science and technology ministry said it was considering a space mission to Mars. In a ministry paper it indicated unmanned exploration, manned missions to Mars and long-term settlement on the Moon were objectives, for which international cooperation and support was going to be sought.[24]

Besides the H-IIA and M-5 rockets, JAXA is also developing technology for a next-generation supersonic transport that could become the commercial replacement for the Concorde. The design goal of the project (working name Next Generation Supersonic Transport) is to develop a jet that can carry 300 passengers at Mach 2. A subscale model of the jet underwent aerodynamic testing in September and October 2005 in Australia.[25] The economic success of such a project is still unclear, and as a consequence the project has been met with limited interest from Japanese aerospace companies like Mitsubishi Heavy Industries so far.